


Pads, Paws and Claws

by molmcmahon



Series: Year of the Cat [1]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 11:05:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16016621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/molmcmahon/pseuds/molmcmahon
Summary: Harry lands in a world of superheroes and secret countries and finds a home and maybe something more.





	Pads, Paws and Claws

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own either Black Panther or HP.

The last thing Harry saw before jumping through the veil were multiple bullets flying towards him. The first thing Harry saw afterward was a beautiful valley, a gleaming city nestled within. He fell, his knees buckling, unable or unwilling to carry his weight anymore. He was exhausted, bloody and dirty, and he fell onto the grassy terrain underneath him, unconsciously curling around something. 

His wand was held tight in his right hand, his knuckles bloody. The grasses that he had fallen into were tall, swaying with the wind. Harry knelt on the grass, breathing heavily and fast. The afternoon sun beamed down on him and his knee moved under him, bumping into something. Harry blinked and looked down, blinked again as he took in the dragon egg underneath him. It was a white thing, round, and had hard, tough scales surrounding the creature within. It kind of looked like Norberta’s egg but this was light and much brighter in color than her’s had been.

“Huh.” His voice came out dry and choked, from being on the run for the past three months. He had no memory of taking a dragon egg with him or of even touching a dragon egg ever. And… there was nothing between falling into the veil and arriving here, wherever here was. 

His heartbeat, thumping within his chest, as sounds came back to him. He heard booted footsteps coming towards him and the sounds of life, a horse whinnying behind him and people talking in a foreign language as they came closer. The ground shook beneath him and he fell on the ground beneath him as his energy gave out, exhaling a shaky sigh. 

He was sitting on his arse, the dragon egg within his legs, when he came face to face with a big rhino. Harry tilted his head in confusion, a start of a bemused grin on his face as the rhino stared right at him. “I’m confused.”

Someone snorted, making him look up, around the rhino. There was a man dressed in fine, beautiful clothes, with skin darker than Harry’s, and four women flanking him. They were standing next to the rhino and… there was someone on the rhino’s back, sitting on a well made saddle. The man on the rhino’s back had a spear pointed right at Harry, though it didn’t just look like any old spear. It looked like it was a high tech spear, some kind of energy pooling in the tip.

Black spots entered his vision and the rhino lowered its’ head, as if to sniff him. Harry held out a shaky hand, noting the various cuts and bruises. The gunshot wound on his leg was still bleeding out and he would have healed it before, had his magic not been depleted. As it was, his magic was sluggishly mending every other cut and scratch and bruise on his body. He could even feel his skin knitting together this very minute and trying to mend the bigger gashes on his legs. “Nice rhino?”

The man who was not on the rhino stared at him, a curious light entering his brown eyes. His lips twitched up at Harry’s behavior, clearly amused by something. Harry pulled his limitless bag out of his pocket and gently placed the egg in it, made sure it was cushioned then looked backup at the man. “Who are you?”

“Harry. Just Harry.”

 

* * *

 

 

T’Challa watched as the man swayed in place briefly before collapsing against the ground a moment later, his green eyes rolling into the back of his head. “Let’s get him to my sister.”  

Okoye frowned but nodded, her shoulders tight. The rhino right next to her turned towards her and Okoye’s lips twitched up into a small grin. “Are you sure of this, my prince?”

“He didn’t attack us, Okoye,” T’Challa remarked, raising an eyebrow. “Besides, he’s not Wakandan and he made it through the shield barrier. That alone should make you curious.”

Okoye finally dipped her head in a nod and T’Challa walked right over to the man, looking him over more closely. The man’s skin, from what they could see, was covered in scrapes and bruises, cuts and slashes and there were at least two bullet wounds. T’Challa stooped to gently pick up the man, wondering who he was and where he had come from. The guy froze unconsciously but otherwise didn’t fight T’Challa. 

They walked back to the jet that they had taken and T’Challa walked over to place the man on one of the cushioned benches. Okoye took her place at the front of the jet and expertly guided the craft into taking off, into the air, and over to Shuri’s lab. T’Challa looked over the man as they flew, wondering who the man was and where he had come from. 

“Who are you?” T’Challa muttered, taking in the man’s wild black hair and strangely shaped scar on his forehead. The man had had bright green eyes and when he had been awake, had looked at T’Challa and Okoye curiously. Somehow the man had gotten through or seen through the barrier that protected Wakanda from outsiders. “He’s not an Avenger.”

“Could he be of Thor’s race?” Okoye asked, as they flew over the multiple farms in between the city and the vibranium mound which held Shuri’s lab. 

“No. W’Kabi said no one saw the bridge with which Thor travels,” T’Challa said, eyes narrowing in thought. “We shall see when he wakes up.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Brother?”

“Shuri! The man that was reported to have appeared out of nowhere,” T’Challa explained as Shuri walked over to them. “Is Father around?”

“No. Why?

Shuri blinked, glancing down at the man who was covered up on the rolling stretcher, from toes to neck. “He’s white.”

“Very observant, Shuri.”

Shuri snorted and helped them wheel the man in, her eyes drawn to the scar on the guy’s forehead. “I’ve never seen a weapon that would make that kind of wound.”

“I haven’t either. It looks…” T’Challa trailed off, picking up the sheet a little and tracing the scar with his eyes. The scar forked downward, branches of raised skin spreading out from the main line. He remembered the look in the man’s green eyes as they locked eyes with each other. It was one of curiosity, of amazement when the guy had seen the rhino. “Like a lightning bolt.”

They pulled the stretcher out to the main floor of the lab and Shuri unpeeled the sheet that had covered the man, looked him over. “His wounds seem to be…”

“What?”

Shuri’s eyes widened. “They seem to be healing before my eyes. Brother, did you see this?”

T’Challa shook his head, closing the distance between the stretcher and studying the man. His eyes widened too as he saw the various cuts and bruises, the slashes slowly, very slowly knitting themselves together under his eyes. 

“What…” Shuri trailed off, entering something into her kimoyo beads and scanning the man. Health stats showed up over the man and T’Challa watched as Shuri looked them over, his eyes still transfixed on the man, wondering where he came from and where the injuries came from. 

“He’s not like you, brother, at least not when you’re the Panther,” Shuri said, her voice intent and excited. “He’s… The analysis says he’s just a regular man.”

“The bullets need to come out though,” T’Challa finally said, glancing at his sister. “And those need to be wrapped.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get the bullets out. T’Challa, what are you going to do about him afterward?” Shuri questioned, “You know no one will appreciate him being here. Our father might disapprove.”

“I want to ask him a few questions,” T’Challa said, seeing Okoye nod in approval. “How did he get past the barrier? Who is he? Does he pose a threat to us?”

“He might be an agent of SHIELD,” Okoye remarked, coming over to look down at the man. She still held her spear, as if poised to fight at the slightest hint that the man was a threat. “Or another country’s secret service.”

“I’ll check,” Shuri assured them, already looking up the info, hacking into various databases. 

T’Challa watched as Shuri finished, turning to look at them and shaking her head.

“SHIELD has nothing and I couldn’t find anything on him anywhere,” Shuri said, her eyes narrowing at the thought of having a new puzzle to figure out.

T’Challa grinned and he was about to ask Shuri something else when his own kimoyo beads chimed. He moved away from the stretcher and the man and answered it, seeing a hologram of his father show up.

“Father?”

“I would like you to come to the throne room, T’Challa,” T’Chaka said, looking at him appraisingly. “I heard you answered a call of one of the border tribes. What came of it?”

“They found a man who had gotten through the barrier,” T’Challa explained, seeing T’Chaka’s eyes narrow. “The man is white and Shuri hasn’t been able to find out anything about him except his name. He’s called Harry.”

“He is white and yet he found a way through the protective barrier?”

“It was more like he fell from the sky,” T’Challa answered, seeing his father blink. “That’s what one of tribes people said when W’Kabi questioned them.”

“Hmm. He is injured?”

“He is but his wounds are healing, father,” T’Challa said, turning to look at where Shuri was in the process of removing the bullets from Harry’s body. “He is like the Panther.”

“I would like to be there when you question him when he wakes up,” T’Chaka finally remarked, frowning in thought. “Let me know when he does. You can stay with him.”

“Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

 

Harry slowly blinked his eyes open, yawned once or twice, before taking in his surroundings. He was on a cool, metal table though as his fingers moved, it didn’t exactly feel like a metal that he was familiar with. He clearly wasn’t in a hospital as there were no other patients around him and no other beds. There was a white wall in front of him, as he sat up, a wall that as seconds ticked by, turned out not to be just a wall but the end of a spiral path that traveled up and up until it seemed to reach the sky. 

There were tables around the other end of the room he was in, tables that held equipment. Nothing looked familiar at all and he thought he was the only person in the room when he saw a young woman sitting at a desk at the end of the room. In front of her was a ceiling to floor window, one that looked out over a great, cavernous abyss. Harry’s eyes widened and widened as he took in wherever he was. He glanced down at himself, seeing new clothes on himself but no wounds, no blood, no reminder of being chased by gun-toting muggles. 

The clothes that had been placed on him were of light material, subtle color and very breathable. There was a set of dark pants on him and a nice dark green shirt, loose and comfortable.

His bag was laying on the floor by the legs of the table he was on and he could feel the elder wand, invisibility cloak and the ring’s power. They had apparently followed him through the veil, even after he had ditched them two years ago. And the wand… There was power to it, familiar power that sensed his awakening and began to hum, little sparks of power jumping from it as it slid into his left hand. 

He slid his legs off the side of the table, landing without a sound, and idly walked over to the big floor to ceiling glass windows, his eyes widening at the sight. He looked out into a big cavern, big, dark and glowing with energy. Tiny little rocks seemed to glow everywhere and as he looked down, a train moved across the tracks. The train was bracketed by railings that seemed to hum with power, not… electricity but something else.

“Wow.”

A strangled yelp filled the lab behind him and he turned around, seeing the young woman staring at him. Her brown eyes were wide with surprise as she continued to study him and Harry could see the faint stirrings of excitement in her. She kind of faintly reminded him of Hermione, of seeing her get all excited whenever presented with a new charm or spell. He sighed at the memory of her loss, his heart aching.

“You’re awake! T’Challa!”

“Shuri?”

Harry heard someone running into the lab and he turned, seeing the man that he had seen just before he had fallen unconscious. 

“You’re awake.”

“Yeah? I’m awake,” Harry finally said, raising an eyebrow. “Was I not supposed to wake up?”

Shuri laughed, shaking her head. “You’ve been asleep for a three days. What’s your name? What are you? Your injuries didn’t take a lot to heal, colonizer.”

Harry snorted. “My name’s Harry. Where… exactly is here?”

“You’re in Wakanda. Shuri is my sister and I am T’Challa.” The man walked over to stand next to his sister and Harry followed him with his eyes, taking in the man who seemed to be just Harry’s age. He was rather attractive, with short dark hair and light brown eyes. “Harry. How did you come to be in Wakanda?”

“I… You’re asking that as if it is difficult to get into your country,” Harry offered, seeing the young woman talk into something that looked like a bracelet. Someone else answered back and Harry’s eyes widened at the apparent tech. He wondered if this world was different, for he had leaped between worlds, that he knew. He could feel it. “Is that technology common in this world?”

Shuri blinked and snorted, shaking her head. “No.”

“You fell from the sky,” T’Challa explained, his eyes narrowed in thought and more than a little interest. “The captain of our border guards said that our people saw you. Normally, people do not--”

“Fall from the sky?” Harry finished, grinning a little and running a hand through his hair. It was probably back to looking all untamed and probably would need a good shower, especially since his hand came back with little bits of dirt and a few drops of blood. “I didn’t know what would happen after jumping through the veil but I suppose this isn’t… I’m not dead, right?”

Both Shuri and T’Challa shook their heads, their eyes widening a little at his words.

“Veil?” T’Challa echoed, taking a step towards him as if worried.

“T’Challa, Shuri.”

Harry watched as T’Challa and Shuri stepped aside for an older man. The elder man shared some features with Shuri and T’Challa, clearly of a relation to them. And he carried himself like a head of office, slow and respectful. The two women flanking him did seem to give him some degree of importance, like the woman standing behind T’Challa and Shuri. Though Harry didn’t see any hint of arrogance or or ego or anything like what Fudge had walked with. 

“His name is Harry, father.”

Harry blinked, hearing T’Challa’s words faintly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

The man studied him as much as Harry was studying him, his arms loosely at his sides. “I am T’Chaka, king of Wakanda.”

“King?” Harry repeated, his eyes widening and looking between T’Chaka and T’Challa and his sister. That meant… Shuri and T’Challa were princess and prince. T’Challa was clearly the oldest of the two, with Shuri seeming to be maybe 15 or 16. “Should I… bow? I don’t… I did meet the Queen of England once and she didn’t mind that I didn’t bow though I did…”

“You don’t have to bow,” T’Chaka remarked softly. “I am just wondering how you came to be here, past our barrier and why.”

“I…” Harry trailed off, pondering the king’s words and glancing up, his magic surging at his thoughts. His magic had fully recharged, more a raging sea now than what it had been when he had jumped into the veil. His eyes flickered closed and he dove with his magic up, up, up to where a barrier might be. He didn’t feel any physical barrier as his magic took him up, past the roof of many buildings and up to the clouds. Though as he touched one cloud with his magic, he could feel the energy of a barrier, a strong one at that. It kind of reminded him of the magical barrier that the professors of Hogwarts had erected before the battle. He reopened his eyes to look at the king before him. “I didn’t even know I was going to come out the other side of the veil. I just… leapt.”

“You speak of this veil…” T’Challa said, his eyes lit with curiosity. “What is it?”

“I was running from… a faction of people that wanted me dead,” Harry explained, looking at T’Challa and then sighing. “The veil, at least in my world, is a mystical doorway. It… When I was 15, my godfather was killed and then fell into it. I didn’t… No one had gone into the veil before but I was backed into a corner and had no other way out so I jumped. I don’t remember anything between then and landing in your country. It was not on purpose that I landed here. I can go, if you don’t want me here.”

T’Chaka dipped his head in a nod as he thought. “Would the people who wanted you come after you? Does this veil lead only here?”

Harry blinked, thought it through and shook his head. “No. I didn’t even know if I would be alive after jumping, much less in a different world.”

T’Chaka stared at him, his eyes widening a little. “Different world?”

“Baba, I do not think he poses a threat,” T’Challa said, looking at Harry before turning to his father. “He has not harmed Shuri or I.”

“He is white. The people will not be happy,” T’Chaka responded, his eyes caught on Harry and not betraying his emotions. “Perhaps Bast brought you here. I do not know but this will cause trouble on the council. It would be best if you left Wakanda. Okoye, assign him an escort out of the country.”

“Yes, my king.”

“Is there somewhere I can buy a phone?” Harry asked, looking to the king. “I don’t have one and I know…”

“You don’t have a cell phone?” Shuri questioned, her eyes widening greatly. “What kind of person doesn’t have a cell phone?”

Harry laughed. “Me?”

Shuri blinked, muttering under her breath about something before walking into another part of the lab.

“Of course. I will take your word on no one else arriving like you did.”

Harry nodded, dipping down to pick up his bag and nodding to the king. “I do understand. I come from a very isolated community myself and that… Well, I understand.”

“I need to get back to the council room but Okoye will send a guard to you to escort you out of the city,” T’Chaka said, his eyes narrowing. 

Shuri walked back to them, holding a small phone in her hands and holding out to him. “Here. It’s a prototype that I’ve been working on. It should be better than those Starkphones.”

T’Challa grinned. “It was fine when I tried it out last week, Shuri.”

Shuri glared at her brother as T’Chaka walked back out, the two women following him. T’Challa grinned and sighed, the picture of an ever suffering older brother.

“What’s a Starkphone?” Harry questioned, looking between the two siblings.

Shuri blinked, turning to stare at him. “You don’t know what a Starkphone is? Have you been living under a rock?”

“Try living in a cupboard,” Harry muttered, watching as Shuri handed him the phone and grasping it. He looked it over, unlocking it and his eyes widening at the speed of it. “This is amazing. I didn’t even know phones could be this fast.”

“Do you have supplies and money?” T’Challa asked, his arms loosely at his sides and looking at Harry in concern. “Enough to get you a hotel room?”

“I have… Yeah, I do. I inherited plenty from my godfather and parents.”

 

* * *

  
  


T’Challa watched as Okoye indicated to him that she would go with him to escort Harry to the border of Wakanda, her eyes watching the stranger with intent. Harry’s shoulders were loose, his eyes wary with exhaustion and history behind them. He wanted to know more of this stranger who had apparently fallen from a… veil to their country.

“Would you mind me joining you, at least to the border?” T’Challa questioned. “We can take a ship for an easier trip.”

“I… I wouldn’t mind,” Harry remarked, picking up the bag that neither T’Challa nor Shuri had been able to open. “Seeing Wakanda from the air would be fun, especially since I was unconscious on the way over.”

T’Challa’s lips twitched up into a small grin and nodded at Shuri. Okoye walked over to them and stood behind him, intending to go with them. “The ship is this way.”

Harry idly walked over to T’Challa’s side and fell into step with him as they walked out. “This is an amazing lab by the way, Shuri.”

T’Challa grinned at Shuri’s pleased expression, seeing Harry briefly turn to look at her. They walked past a few of the other scientists in the lab, all of them nodding to T’Challa as they walked out. 

“She reminds me of my best friend, Hermione,” Harry remarked quietly as they walked out onto the runway for ships. The sun hit them almost immediately, its’ heat almost curling around them. There were a few clouds in the sky but not enough to cover the sun. The Royal Talon Flyer sat where he had left it and Harry stopped to look at it. “Always on the lookout for more knowledge, her head stuck in a book. Though… with the way the tech looks here… Your parents must have had their hands full with Shuri.”

T’Challa grinned and nodded, seeing Harry’s eyes widen. “She is the head of the Royal Lab but yes. She was always running about the palace, trying on new things and seeing how things worked.”

“This ship is amazing,” Harry whispered, as Okoye walked up the ramp and into the piloting seat. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Well, to be honest, anything that looks incredible will probably amaze me. I’ve never even ridden on an airplane before.”

“You have not… flown before?” T’Challa asked, as Harry stepped onto the ramp and into the ship. T’Challa followed and watched the man look around the ship. “Most people have, I think.”

“Oh, I’ve flown before,” Harry answered, his eyes lit up with pleasure as he turned to look at him. “Just not on an airplane. I love to fly.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” T’Challa questioned, walking over to sit down on the cushioned bench. 

Harry walked over and stood before him, winked at him. T’Challa felt his cheeks redden a little at the man’s mischievous expression, his heart skipping a beat, and watched him reach into the bag at his side, sticking his whole arm into it.

T’Challa’s eyes widened as Harry’s arm vanished and then reemerged a second or two later with a… miniaturized broomstick. Harry muttered two words under his breath and then the small wooden stick grew and grew until it looked like an ordinary broom, except with handles and goggles hanging off it. 

“I like to fly,” Harry finished, smiling widely.

“Are you like the Scarlet Witch?” Okoye asked, turning around in the pilot’s chair to look at him. Her eyes were narrowed but T’Challa could tell she was interested in what Harry had to say.

“The Scarlet Witch? Who’s that?” Harry blinked, looking between both Okoye and T’Challa. Harry re-miniaturized the broom as they watched and put it back in his bag.

“She is an Avenger,” T’Challa answered, standing up and taking a step over to the holo platform. He typed in Maximoff’s name and a hologram of her appeared in the air, hovering above the table. 

Harry’s eyes widened a little and slowly shook his head. “Is she a witch?”

“She has powers,” Okoye offered, turning around and piloting the ship off of the runway. 

“What… kind of powers?” Harry looked at the hologram of the woman before turning to T’Challa in question.

“Our intelligence says that she garnered them from Loki’s staff,” T’Challa explained, looking at Harry for any sign of recognition and seeing nothing. 

“Uh… I know of Loki but… There are Norse gods here? In this world?”

“Yes. Thor is one. We do not know where he is and his brother was last seen trying to take over New York. That was when the Avengers formed and SHIELD came out into the open,” T’Challa said, remembering seeing the alien invasion on TV when he was in school. Wakanda had not helped with the fight, had not helped with any of the proceeding fights with the Avengers. He pulled up images of the Avengers on the holo table, letting Harry look.

Harry blinked, his eyes widening so much that T’Challa thought they would fall out.

“Okay… On my world… there were no superheroes,” Harry finally said faintly. “Only… wizards and witches that used wands. Does this… Scarlet Witch use a wand?”

“No,” Okoye said, taking the ship up into the air and guiding it to the northern border. “Her magic is tinted red and comes from her hands.”

Harry shook his head again, his eyes glowing with power. T’Challa stared at him, watched as Harry pulled out a stick of wood. “No person’s magic was colored in my world, just the different spells. I guess she wasn’t born a witch then. You say her power comes from a staff?”

“Indeed. The Avengers took it back from HYDRA a month ago.”

“Right… I’ve got a lot to learn about this new world then,” Harry said, heaving a deep sigh and sitting down onto the cushioned bench. “Thank you for making sure I had a safe place to heal.”

“You are very welcome,” T’Challa said, dipping his head in a nod. “I am sorry to see you go.”

Harry looked up at him then over at Okoye, looking out the front windows for the rest of the trip. “From what I can see, Wakanda is a beautiful country.”

“It is.” 

T’Challa grinned in amusement at Okoye’s reply. “Perhaps we can keep in touch?”

“I would like that,” Harry replied, grinning up at him. He handed T’Challa his phone and he typed in his own number into the device before handing it back.

“Say… you wouldn’t know if this world would be fine with a dragon?”

T’Challa blinked, staring at Harry like he had just sprouted a second head. “Pardon?”

“The egg that you two saw me with when you found me… It’s a dragon egg.”

T’Challa stared at him, blinked once or twice. “A dragon.”

“They were common enough in my world,” Harry offered, shrugging a little. “Though a few species did die off before the ministry could do anything about it.”

“Are you planning on hatching that egg?” Okoye questioned.

“It’s me. I’ve never been very good at restraining my curiosity.”

T’Challa’s lips twitched up into a small grin.

“Though if it is dangerous… I’ll find somewhere to live where there’s no humans for a while and train it,” Harry added, his eyes narrowing in thought. “Clicker training or something.”

Okoye’s lips twitched up into an amused grin but she didn’t say anything. They flew in silence for another few minutes, companionable but hesitant. T’Challa sighed as he saw the border come into view and Okoye flew the jet through the barrier and then chose a small clearing in which to set down.

Harry stood up, quickly glancing down to the phone in his hands and rolling his eyes. “Your sister put her number in here.”

T’Challa snorted. “She probably thinks that you’ll need the help.”

“I probably will,” Harry said, grinning. “I don’t know the first thing about technology and I guess Wakanda is not the norm for everywhere else?”

T’Challa slowly shook his head and Harry raised an eyebrow. “I won’t tell. I’m pretty good at keeping secrets.”

The jet finally lowered to the ground and the ramp opened up. T’Challa stood up and followed Harry down the ramp into the forested area beyond the barrier. Harry stopped two or three feet away from the ship, with his bag strap on his shoulder and the… wand held in his hand.

“It was nice to meet all of you,” Harry remarked, his lips twitching into a small, wary grin. “And thank you, once again.”

“You are very welcome,” T’Challa offered, dipping his head in a nod. “I hope to see you again?”

Harry’s green eyes narrowed before he smiled, picking out his broom again and resizing it. “Something tells me we’ll cross paths again, T’Challa, Prince of Wakanda. Bye.”

T’Challa watched as Harry mounted his broom and flew off, the slight breeze making his clothes billow. The late morning sun gleamed down onto them and he stood there until Harry disappeared. 

“I hope we do, Harry,” T’Challa whispered, trying to put Harry’s last appearance into his memory. 

“You know the people of Wakanda would not have an easy time accepting him as your consort,” Okoye remarked, walking out of the jet and over to stand next to him. “He is white.”

“Okoye, we’re not even courting each other yet. Who says I want him as my consort?”

“I know you, T’Challa.” Okoye sighed and turned to look at him.

“I know that people would not easily accept him. Perhaps it’s time to start letting in outsiders,” T’Challa spoke, before turning around and heading back into the jet. “I want to know more about him and learn where he came from.”

 

* * *

  
  
  


The first text from Harry came within a week after they had parted ways.

_ I didn’t know there could be this many Starbucks in the world. Why do people need coffee this much? _

T’Challa grinned as soon as he read it, right after a council meeting. 

**You do not drink coffee?**

_ No. Tea is my preferred drink. You know, stereotypical British guy. If I need to stay awake, I drink a Pepper-up potion. It’s what the cool kids drank back in… Hogwarts when there were exams. _

**Hogwarts? Is that the school you went to?**

_ School for Witches and Wizards. I miss it. I miss my friends so much. _

T’Challa’s eyes narrowed as he read Harry’s text off of his kimoyo beads. 

**Do you think you want to go back? Shuri would help with anything you needed.**

_ I don’t… It’s kind of you to offer but I don’t think there’s a way back for me. There’s nothing for me back home and I… It’s better here, where no one knows my name. _

 

* * *

  
  


_ Australia is beautiful but I’m not going back there. Too many things can kill you and they’re all non-magical creatures. _

T’Challa let out a surprised laugh a month later. 

**Are you traveling the world? I’ve always wanted to do that but my duties are here. I did go to university in England though. My father let me go just for school.**

_ Your experiences are probably very unlike mine in that your life didn’t get threatened on a yearly basis. _

T’Challa blinked at this new piece of information, wondering what Harry’s school had looked like. Harry must have gone to school in very… interesting times.

**What do you mean your life was threatened on a yearly basis?**

_ I mean exactly that. There was this… Dark Lord guy and he wanted me dead because of a prophecy. It was a whole thing and I met him in battle at least once a year for six years. _

**How many years did a wizarding student go to school for? Is it different than regular children?**

_ 7 years, which started at age 11. If things had gone differently, I would have founded a school for younger kids, something like a preschool. There were pureblooded folk who taught their children any number of household charms before Hogwarts and they were always ahead of everyone else. _

T’Challa’s eyes narrowed at Harry’s words, the world that he lived in.

**Pureblood?**

_ People who were born from parents who were both wizards and witches. Pureblood families bragged about not having any muggleborn blood in their lines. It made me and Hermione so angry when we learned about that. It… Muggleborns were witches and wizards born of non-magical parents. They were considered ‘inferior’ by the purebloods. _

**Which are you?**

_ Halfblood. My mum was a muggleborn and my dad was a pureblood. He was one of the good ones though, or so I heard. _

**Harry… what does that mean? Are you…**

_ My parents were murdered when I was two, on account of that whole prophecy thing.  _

T’Challa inhaled sharply, causing Okoye to glance at him in question. His heart skipped a beat at the words, aching at the thought of what Harry had went through. 

**I am very sorry to hear that. Did you have relatives that raised you?**

_ I… I had an aunt but she and her husband… hated me. I don’t really… like to think about it. _

“T’Challa, are you alright?”

He looked up at his father as they both walked to the palace, seeing the great panther statues guarding the way.

**“** Baba, I don’t know if I told you…”

**“** You’ve been texting with Harry. I know.”

T’Challa glanced up at his father, the women of the Dora Milaje flanking them. “It’s been two months since he left. I wanted to get to know him better.”

T’Chaka studied him, stopping right before the gate of the palace. “Is he well?”

“He is, as far as I know. He was just in Australia.”

 

* * *

  
  


_ Ran into the alleged Winter Soldier. There’s a spell to control someone called the Imperious Spell but I’ve never heard of someone being brainwashed to assassinate people. _

**Are you okay? He was one of HYDRA’s men.**

_ He’s not anymore. I’ve seen the news footage of that attack on SHIELD headquarters and… James Barnes is definitely a victim, not a HYDRA agent by choice. I helped him remember some memories but he’s going to need much more serious help than what I gave him. What is HYDRA anyway? _

**If I know my history correctly, it was Hitler’s science division that went rogue. Harry, where are you? You’re not in trouble, are you?**

_ No, I’m fine. I was just in Brazil. I have a… people saving thing, if you must know. It’s what my friends called it. _

T’Challa laughed quietly as he walked through the streets of the city. People nodded to him as he passed, smiled respectfully.

_ Also, I set up an orphanage here and a community center. I think I’m going to Moscow next so I’ll talk to you later.  _

  
  


* * *

 

**Are you gay?**

Harry blinked, looking down at the text he had just received. It had been four months since he had landed in this world and he had just arrived in Moscow, seeing the troublesome reports from the country. The number that the text was from was not T’Challa’s but…

_ Shuri? _

**Yes. If you’re courting my brother, would you do it in the same country? Because he needs someone on his side.**

Harry snorted. Shuri reminded him of Fred and George and his heart ached at the thought, at never seeing either of the twins again.

_ I… I’m bisexual. _

**Good. Whenever he receives a text from you, he smiles.**

_ I’m glad? Is your brother… _

**He’s bi. He dated a guy in college but he never gave me the details.**

Harry looked out over the Moscow city as he sat down on the rooftop of the building he was living in. The sun was just coming up but the sky and horizon were cluttered with buildings that blocked his view. He had thought T’Challa was handsome, attractive but he had wondered whether he was straight or not. 

_ Are gay couples accepted in Wakanda? _

**Yes. They definitely are.**

_ But I’m… white. King T’Chaka said I shouldn’t come back. _

**T’Challa likes you.**

_ And that’s that, huh? _

**Yep. Any trouble with the phone?**

_ No, it’s not given me any trouble. It’s odd though because in my world, magic and tech didn’t mix. Your phone apparently doesn’t care about my magic. _

**Thank you.**

Harry snorted and stood up. He had heard of some gay men needing to get out of Moscow urgently because they had been outed. He had started working with the organization, Rainbow Railroad, in funding and transportation. He was one of their best agents, undercover, and nearly invisible.

 

* * *

  
  


_ I suppose getting kidnapped by SHIELD was their version of the welcome wagon. _

T’Challa’s eyes narrowed at the words. He knew Harry had traveled to Egypt a month ago, on the way to America to visit New York. “Shuri!”

“What?!”

He hastened down the path to her lab, seeing her running over to him. “What do we know of SHIELD?”

Shuri blinked but walked over to her main computer and pulled up the info that their War Dogs had compiled. “They were disbanded after the HYDRA incident but Fury was seen in Sokovia. We know most of their current missions now. What did you need?”

“Harry’s been kidnapped by them.”

Shuri’s eyes widened. “SHIELD? Not HYDRA?”

**Harry, are you sure it’s SHIELD?**

T’Challa waited for several minutes and then several more minutes. His fingers flexed into claws and he looked at the panther suit before turning to Shuri. “Track Harry down.”

Shuri nodded, typing in Harry’s name and using Wakanda’s own satellite to do it. The maps moved about on the hologram and they finally focused in on Italy, the tracking dot that was Harry moving north. 

_ Who would have thought? I attracted the attention of Captain America and the Black Widow. I’m fine, T’Challa. _

He breathed a sigh of relief at Harry’s text twenty minutes later.

**I’m glad you are fine. I was about to come myself.**

_ Shuri’s tracking me, isn’t she? _

**That’s a stupid question.**

T’Challa looked at Shuri, who was typing something in on her kimoyo beads.

_ They didn’t get into my trunk either. I think I frustrated them with that. I’m the only person who can open it.  _

_ You would have come to my rescue, huh? _

T’Challa grinned and typed in his response.

**The Black Panther takes care of Wakanda.**

_ I count as a citizen?  _

**You’re a Person of Interest, certainly.**

 

* * *

  
  


Harry glanced out at the Avengers base, watching as Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark talked amongst each other. There was also someone else, someone who had red skin but it also didn’t look like actual skin. It was probably the Vision, if Harry remembered correctly. 

He glanced out at the landing deck for their quinjets, taking in the various SHIELD personnel walking around. He brought out his phone again and looked down at T’Challa’s last text and grinned. After this unplanned visit to the outskirts of New York City, he wanted to head back to Wakanda. Or at least to the border. 

It had been eight months since he had arrived here. He had helped a lot of people, from kids to queer teenagers in Moscow who needed to get out. He had placed the dragon egg in a pot on a fireplace in his trunk three months ago and it was close to hatching. Perhaps in another month, the creature within would finally make its’ debut.

The Avengers were still debating what to do with him even an hour after they had taken him and Harry was quite done already. The sun was setting and he wanted to see inside of one of the quinjets. He snorted quietly under his breath, casually reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out his invisibility cloak, drawing it out and over him.

He had learned that it would confuse radar, heat vision, and just about everything else in this new world and now was no different. He disappeared between one minute and the next and headed out of the facility, walking quietly with each step outside. Harry spotted a quinjet that wasn’t being attended to and quickly slipped inside, hearing the Avengers yell as they realized he was gone.

Harry’s eyes widened only a little at the inside of the jet, seeing that it wasn’t even in the same tier as the jet that T’Challa and Okoye had taken him in. He slid down into the pilot’s seat and flipped on the engines and took off, piloting it east to Europe.

 

* * *

 

 

He was in Lagos next when he saw the Avengers, or at least a few of them. He had cloaked his stolen quinjet and managed to turn off the tracking devices within and landed in the city to refuel and to assist some folk who needed help. He was sitting at a cafe, across from a laboratory in Lagos, having assisted some of the Wakandan aid workers in the building next to it.

He spotted Captain America, Black Widow, the Falcon and Wanda Maximoff, recognized from the holo he had seen when he had first arrived in Wakanda. Harry watched as a truck load of soldiers, mercenaries by their appearance, drove right into the lab, passing right through the security gate. A bomb went off as the Avengers fought and chaos followed, enough that Harry definitely kept an eye on them. 

He kept bystanders away but didn’t do anything else as a roughly armored man stalked in, engaging Captain America in hand to hand combat. Harry studied Wanda more closely than the others, sensing her power. It was rough, untrained and certainly not like his magic. Wanda’s was more chaotic and she only kept a very loose leash on it as she floated people up into the air and let them fall.

He only had a loose understanding of what the Avengers were doing, connecting the dots between the mercenaries and the health lab that they were attacking. Something about a biological weapon and just as another bomb went off, he realized that it had been the vial containing the weapon. Harry ran over towards Wanda, seeing her contain it with her power and levitate it up, up to the second floor of the building next to her and…

Harry flew upward, the elder wand in his hand as he cast a bigger air bubble than he had ever done before. He manipulated the bubble to contain the bio weapon after Wanda’s power disappeared and curled his own magic around the fine dust particles that radiated death in his magical sight. He heard gasps and sharp inhales behind him, in the open windows of the building. The Wakandan humanitarian workers were staring at him, open mouthed, as he slowly but surely banished the bio weapon within his own magic.

  
  


* * *

 

 

Harry dropped down to the ground after the bio weapon was gone and looked over to where Wanda Maximoff was. She was staring at him, her blue eyes wide with apprehension. Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff were headed his way, both looking very serious. Harry had had SHIELD agents on his tail ever since he had disappeared from their base a month ago and he wasn’t looking to repeat the kidnapping experience.

“Harry!”

He turned around to see three of the Wakanda aid workers with a stretcher between them. A young woman was lying on the stretcher, one he was familiar with. Kalila. “What’s wrong?”

“She needs to go home. Can you take her?” Petros, one of the men he had met in the past week, asked. “The border tribes will let you through if you carry her with you.”

“Was she injured in the blast here?”

Petros nodded and Harry nodded, casting his own levitation charm on the stretcher and disapparating with her on it.

He disapparated on the spot and landed right next to his stolen quinjet, the one he had repainted. His jet was painted a dark green on the outside, a snake and a lion painted on either side of it. He quickly opened the ramp, walked inside, and closed the ramp, laying Kalila on the seat behind the pilot’s. He flipped the engine and took off into the sky, headed right for Wakanda.   

 

* * *

  
  


“We heard what you did,” T’Chaka remarked as Harry walked off the jet on the palace’s helipad. Doctors had already taken Kalila off the jet, right to the hospital near palace grounds. He had been met by King T’Chaka, Queen Ramonda, Prince T’Challa and Princess Shuri, all of whom were flanked by the women of the Dora Milaje. “Thank you, Harry.”

The sun had set on Wakanda by the time that he had arrived in the country, bypassing the barrier when he had called in ahead of time. He was tired and hungry, his magic stretched in new directions today. “I’ll be leaving then, assuming I’m still not welcomed here.”

“You can stay for a night,” T’Chaka offered, his eyes narrowed in thought as T’Challa walked over to Harry’s side. “That debacle in Lagos and Sokovia last year is still on the council’s minds, on the world’s mind.”

“I didn’t stay to see the aftermath. Were many people killed?”

“A hundred lives were lost as bystanders,” T’Chaka said, grimacing. “The Avengers need to be contained.”

Harry nodded, not particularly caring about the Avengers at the moment, as he turned to T’Challa. 

“Come, I can get you something to eat,” T’Challa said, his eyes bright with pleasure at seeing him. “Shuri will fly your jet over to our fleet.”

“Not before I look at it first,” Shuri exclaimed excitedly, her own brown eyes lit up with eagerness. “I haven’t been able to look at a SHIELD quinjet before.”

Harry snorted and took T’Challa’s arm and fell into step with him as they entered the palace. “I’m glad I could be of some service to the royal family.”

Shuri laughed. “For a white boy, you aren’t bad.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“You do that,” Shuri returned before speedily walking up into Harry’s jet. 

T’Challa and Harry exchanged glances and laughed. 

Harry looked around at the palace as they walked through it, passing by the council room in the center and going back to the royal family quarters. There was the room for King T’Chaka and Queen Ramonda while the rooms for T’Challa and Shuri were further back. Both T’Challa and Shuri had a set of rooms, a bedroom, bathroom, their own personal kitchen, a sitting room and an office. 

T’Challa led him to his set of rooms and closed the door behind them, as Ayo and another member of the Dora Milaje stood guard at the door. 

“You can go clean up in the bathroom,” T’Challa offered, pointing to another door across the hall. “The guest rooms are closeby.”

“Thanks.”

Harry looked around at the sitting room, seeing the fireplace up against the wall. Each of T’Challa’s rooms had a view of the city of Wakanda and it was beautiful, the sun was setting on a cloudless sky. Harry sighed in contentment and set down his trunk, stepping in to grab the egg off the firepit it was in. The egg was in a pot, just to keep it safe, and Harry pulled on thick gloves, and walked back out of the trunk, seeing T’Challa grin at the show of another magical item.

“Is it about to hatch?” T’Challa questioned, watching as Harry placed the egg on the vibranium coffee table. It was a pretty piece of furniture, silver in color but with threads of blue within. He put down his gloves under the egg and walked over to sit in front of the table, hoping to catch the baby dragon’s eyes as soon as it hatched.

“I think so. It’s been rocking around for the past night or so,” Harry remarked quietly as he looked across at T’Challa. The other man had sat down on the chair across from him, his brown eyes soft with interest. 

Harry brought his legs in and propped his head on his knees. “Wanda Maximoff has not trained with an actual wizard or witch. That much was clear when I saw her.”

“Harry… I saw what you did,” T’Challa offered, looking at him and then getting up and coming over towards him. Harry watched as he sat down next to him on the floor. “You’re powerful enough to protect people, to keep someone from making a mistake.”

“It’s what I do,” Harry answered, watching as the dragon egg started to rock in place. Tiny cracks started to show in the white shell, almost like the creature inside was anxious to get out. “I protect people. I told you of my last battle with Voldemort, right?”

“Yes.”

“I thought I was going to die and if it meant my friends wouldn’t...” Harry trailed off, shrugging. He took note of the egg and then whispered the patronus charm under his breath, watched as white mist took the shape of a stag beside him. “Go get Shuri. She’ll want to see this.”

Prongs galloped off, loping through the walls and disappeared.

“You know, I could have called her from my kimoyo beads,” T’Challa said, his lips twitching up into a small grin.

“Eh, she’ll be excited to see my patronus,” Harry said, returning T’Challa’s smile. 

“He’s beautiful,” T’Challa responded, turning to look at him. Harry’s heart skipped a beat at T’Challa’s awed expression, half knowing that the other man wasn’t referring to his patronus. “It’s hatching.”

Harry turned to see the egg, watching as even more cracks appeared. The door opened behind them and Shuri raced in, Prongs following her. Shuri’s eyes were wide and her smile huge and excited as she hurried over to sit next to her brother.

A white clawed limb kicked through the shell, causing the rest of the thick material to break apart. Harry reached out and helped the baby claw the rest of the way out. The baby dragon was white with black spots speckled over its’ skin. Harry watched, entranced, as the dragonet ended up on one of the gloves, its’ silvery eyes looking at Harry. 

Harry stared at the dragon, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, and then turned to T’Challa. A sense of familiarity encompassed him, the white egg and black veins… He quickly turned back to the dragonet, his eyes going wide and his heart stopping.

“Hedwig?”  
  



End file.
